The Nation Newspaper

Tag: unemployable

  • Poor ICT skills make graduates unemployable, says proprietor

    Nigerian students have been advised to acquire Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and entrepreneurial skills to enhance their employability in the labour market.

    Founder of Ajayi Polytechnic, Ikere Ekiti, Dr. Busayo Ajayi, who gave the advice at a one-day free ICT seminar held at the institution, lamented that many graduates remain unemployed years after graduation because they do not have sufficient ICT knowledge.

    Ajayi said: “ICT is the in-thing. It is everywhere. Whatever your field of academic study, you must be ICT savvy.”

    He said the non-incorporation of basic entrepreneurial trainings into academic curricular had further made Nigerian graduates unfit for the challenges of modern day life.

    “Entrepreneurship and Innovation education, especially in ICT is now inevitable, judging by the number of people that are graduating from institutions of higher learning in the last few years.

    “At least 60 to 70 per cent of them are unemployed either because they are unemployable or because they have not acquired necessary training and skills that would enable them meet needs of industries.”

    Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, who spoke on the dangers of the internet, warned against wrong use of social media platforms which could make one potential targets of criminals and miscreants.

  • Why Nigerian graduates are unemployable

    Why Nigerian graduates are unemployable

    A number of factors could be responsible for the inability of Nigerian graduates to secure gainful employment or even maintain steady jobs, Fara Fasuyi, a management consultant has said.

    According to Miss Fasuyi who heads the School of Enterprise at the prestigious Ibadan Business School, Ibadan, Oyo State, chief among the factors to blame for the growing youths unemployment is the lack of appropriate skills set on the part of the applicants as well as poor work ethics.

    Besides, she said the poor curriculum in most varsities is such that is completely out of tune with the requirements of modern times, thus majority of Nigerian graduates can’t compete with their peers anywhere in the world.

    “It is quite disconcerting to note that majority of our universities are out of tune with what’s happening in the rest of the world. You can imagine that some of the courses which were taught some five decades ago are still being taught with little or no innovation. Are we saying there have been no new changes in those fields? You can’t rely on jaded ideas to survive in the 21st century,” she said.

    To buttress her point, the Economics graduate from Covenant University readily cites the current World University Rankings in which the only Nigerian university, University of Ibadan appeared in the 800+position, a situation, she says is rather disheartening.

    The 25-year-old Ilesha-born young lady who has two masters degree from the University of Dundee as well as the University of Bradford, School of Management, amongst other qualifications, holds the view and very strongly too that there are jobs out there but only a few applicants have the potentials to capture such jobs.

    “Contrary to the belief out there I can say with every sense of responsibility that there are a handful of jobs out there whether in the area of enterprise development or white-collar jobs. The missing links however is that not many graduates can meet the set criteria for such jobs.”

    Thankfully, she says the Ibadan Business School, has fashioned out a programme aimed building entrepreneurs.

    “As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility initiative the School of Enterprise is offering empowerment courses for over 200 graduates absolutely free. It is our own little contribution to the society. Our cardinal aims and objectives at the School of Enterprise is to start, grow and make businesses thrive. That’s our calling.”

  • Unemployable graduates

    In the last few weeks, I have been agonizing over the obvious disconnect between the training graduates get in higher institutions and what is expected of them in whatever industry they are supposed to be employed.

    My worry is informed by how clueless many graduates are when asked what difference they can make  in companies they apply to work in. Many of them assume that their certificates are enough to get them employment.

    I am usually disappointed when I ask a job seeker what kind of job he or she wants and the reply I get is  “any job.” My impression of such applicants is that he or she does not have any special skill.

    Having a certificate is good, but been able to do what the certificate claims the applicant has the capacity to do is much more important.

    Why should any employer employ an applicant who cannot add value to the productivity of his or her company? While it is true that the unemployment rate is high in the country, what is also true is that some unemployed graduates are unemployable.

    Some of the unemployable graduates have a good share of the blame for not having the skills required of them due to their own passion for the course they studied, but the tertiary institutions in the country can do better in producing industry-ready graduates.

    What is apparent is that there is not enough collaboration between training institutions and the industries they are producing graduates for. Training institutions are not doing enough to know skills required of graduates and adjust their curriculum as required.

    The course content of some courses in higher institutions in the country are obsolete and not industry relevant. I am aware of the bureaucracy required to approve new courses by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) and the Nigeria Board for Technical Education (NBTE) which is a shame.

    If only they realize the disservice being done to the graduates produced, the approving authorities will allow more dynamism in courses offered our universities and polytechnics.

    While private universities seem to be finding a way round the problem by offering unique courses, most public universities are still steep in their old ways. Students are thought obsolete theories from outdated text books with little or no room for practical.

    In the present global village, we will be shortchanging our youths if we don’t give them the benefits of contemporary education that can allow them compete with their colleagues worldwide.

    The new definition of education is the ability to unlearn, learn and relearn.

    There are many old ways of doing things which we must unlearn to acquire new emerging knowledge.

    The Canadian example which Paul Brennan, Vice President of International Partnerships of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges shared in a recent interview is very instructive for bridging the gap between academic institutions and employers.

    According to Brennan the Canadian system requires all institutes and every programme to work closely with employers and employees of the sector to help them develop and constantly adjust the content of the programmes.

    “Our deans and faculty must meet with an advisory committee of employers twice a year to discuss emerging needs for jobs in the Canadian and global marketplace and what improvements to the curriculum need to be made so that it better prepares our learners to find jobs and keep them,” Brennan explained.

    The unemployment situation in the country is very critical and we need to do something urgent about it starting from how we train our graduates.

  • Jimoh Ibrahim: Private varsities’ graduates are almost unemployable

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has been urged to redesign university programmes in a way that a graduate can have two degrees.

    Businessman and Chairman of the Energy Group Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim made the call while handing over a multi-million naira equipped Postgraduate College complex to his alma mater, the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife.

    Aside tallying with the current practice in some world-class universities, such as Harvard and Yale, Ibrahim said double degrees would address Africa’s economic and leadership problems.

    He urged NUC to enhance quality control in private universities, adding that, his experience as an employer of labour has revealed that graduates from these universities are weak.

    Ibrahim: “The standard of graduates from our private universities is very weak. We are employers of labour and we take the products of these universities. I can tell you categorically that the products are not good enough. That is why it is not easy for any alumni of these private universities to make significant impact.

    “If I ask you how many graduates of private universities have become professors, your answer will simply be none. How many of them have broken through in entrepreneurship? The answer again will be none. There is need for NUC to control the standard in these universities.

    “I also suggest the merger of some of these universities through collaborative effort because private universities are helping to mop the spillover from JAMB, which public universities cannot admit.”

    Ibrahim studied Law at OAU and graduated in 1990.

    The Postgraduate College complex has a reception, mini conference room, offices and Information Communications Technology (ICT) room.